LaVar Ball, the father of top draft prospect Lonzo Ball, said today that his son will only play for the Lakers, Michael Luke of the Arizona Wildcats Sports Radio relays (Twitter link). Ball has regularly spoken to the media about his sons and multiple NBA executives have told Evan Daniels of Scout.com (Twitter link) that it’s a cause for concern.
He recently hyped up his son by saying Lonzo was better than Stephen Curry. “Steph is 6’2″, 6’3″. My boy is 6’7″. ’Zo is faster than Steph and he jumps higher,” LaVar said via The New York Post’s Mark Cannizzaro. “If Steph had to guard Lonzo one-on-one, he couldn’t hold Lonzo. I can’t wait for the first game they play together in the NBA. Then, when my son beats him, then what?’’
Chad Ford of ESPN.com has the Suns selecting Lonzo Ball with the No. 2 overall pick in his latest mock draft. The Lakers currently own the third spot in our Reverse Standings, meaning if the season ended today, they would have a 31.3% chance at a top-2 draft pick.
Here’s more from Los Angeles:
- The Lakers didn’t want to trade parts of its young core for Paul George or another star player without having an infrastructure around him, a source tells Mark Medina of the Orange County Register. Medina also hears that George has interest in joining the Lakers as a free agent, which confirms an earlier report.
- New addition Corey Brewer is excited to join the Lakers and take on a role as a mentor, Medina passes along in the same piece. “The young guys are going to be good. I was happy to come,” said Brewer. “I’ll talk to them, try to help them out anyway I can. I’m going to push them and kick their butt in practice and play every day.”
- Johnson presence at the Lakers‘ facilities has changed the way some of the team’s younger players conduct themselves, Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com writes. “Everybody has to look over their shoulders once again,” D’Angelo Russell said. “It’s like coming to a new team. You try to impress the GMs and the guys in the front office with your play and off the court, the way you handle yourself. It’s just all different.”
If I’m a team picking ahead of the Lakers, I’m not worrying about Ball’s dad saying he wants him to play in LA. Say the Celtics, Suns, or whoever else may pick ahead of the Lakers ends up taking him, what are they going to do? Hold out? Yeah it would suck for that team since a potential star draftee is holding out, but Ball also has little leverage. All he could do at that point, if he refused to sign a contract, would be to go overseas and play. And even then, the team is going to hold his rights until he signs/his rights are traded or forfeited. And even if he signs, it’s not like he can freely leave as soon as his rookie scale contract is up (as they can in the NFL) since he would be a RFA. Unless Lonzo is completely fine with all this going on (and that will go on), he should tell his dad to basically keep it quiet. His dad making so much noise is only going to hurt him in the future.
And obviously Steph would have a hard time covering Ball, he’s an average defender guarding guys in the NBA who are around his height, let alone trying to guard someone taller. I would love to see his dad say guys like LeBron, Kawhi, Butler, George, etc (top defenders who are actually around his height) wouldn’t stand a chance.
LaVar Ball is just one more reason I want the Lakers pick to convey to the Sixers lol
Paul George is 2-18 all time in Miami…tonight, he got so salty at Rodney McGruder, that he got 2 techs and ejected…hes eyeing miami, in my opinion. I don’t think he wants to play for the Lakers, especially when they are missing more than Paul George. Dude idolized Kobe. Feels like he wants to leave that alone, but also, compete for championships. Pat Riley is only about that, and Paul George has experienced it for himself over and over and over again.
Maybe George is, but Pat Riley isnt intersted in him since he wanted to see how heat young players played this season so he did not make any trades
I clearly meant as a free agent after next season….
Is Balls dad really Charles Oakley?
What a doochcanoe ball’s dad is, making demands like that..
How about saying how lucky he and his son will be in playing in the NBA..
Be a little grateful you doochcanoe..
Russell, Ball, Ingram would b the skinniest 1-3 in the NBA